Newcastle's Emily van Egmond has signed with Melbourne City for the upcoming W-League season and says the move has been motivated with Olympic qualification looming.
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City released a statement on Thursday, saying they had secured the services of the 26-year-old Matilda.
"I'm very excited to begin my journey at Melbourne City," van Egmond said. "The club is extremely professional, second to none, and I'm just super excited to be here.
"We have a huge year coming up again with the Matildas, with Olympic qualifications and hopefully Olympics, and I feel where I am right now in my career, it's the best environment for me to be able to challenge myself individually as a player and to obviously be successful with the team.
"I've been extremely fortunate to play in a bunch of different environments, Europe, the US and obviously here in Australia, and I think all these different experiences have definitely helped shape my career and helped me gain those 90 caps for the national team.
"I have a strong winning mentality, which is part of the reason I chose to come to Melbourne City because I want to win, and as a footballer I feel that my knowledge of the game and my passing attributes are my biggest strengths."
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It will be van Egmond's fourth W-League club. She began her national league career with the Jets in 2008-09. She had a season with Canberra United in 2009 then was back with Newcastle in 2011 before a stint with Western Sydney in 2013-14. The midfielder returned to the Jets for the past two W-League campaigns but the Newcastle club announced this month the experienced Australian player had not signed on for another season.
Van Egmond has a wealth of playing experience, including seasons in Denmark, Germany and the NWSL.
She joins East Maitland's Rhali Dobson, also a former Jet, at City.
Melbourne City head of football Michael Petrillo said van Egmond's "attacking attributes, leadership and composure will bring great strength to our midfield".
"Emily has demonstrated great consistency and versatility at the highest level, she is a very talented midfielder with great vision and technical skills that will suit the City style of football," Petrillo said.
